Snow and soil remover



May 8, 1951 P. E. HEDLEY I 2,552,426

snow AND son REMOVER Filed April s, 1946 s Sheets-Sheet 1 llyygyforRE.Hedley Acnn Patented May 8, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SNOW ANDSOIL REMOVER Percy E. Hedley, Hamiota, Manitoba, Canada ApplicationApril 8, 1946, Serial No. 660,549

1 Claim. p 1

The Wide use of automobiles, trucks, tractors and other types ofvehicles has necessitated the smoothing of roads, lanes, driveways etcetera. In the winter time, heavy snows tie up trafhc on these highwaysand in a short time, uneven surfaces and dangerous holes result. Heavysnow, covering afarmers yard in the winter time, interferes with thefarmers passage from one building to another and slows up the necessaryactivity therein for the proper running of the farm. In the summer time,rains and heavy traffic create similar conditions and hazards. Themoving of soil or snow and the levelling on process, due to unevensurfaces, creates a problem for both the road maintenance men and thefarmer. Normally, and with inefficient facilities, the moving of thesoil or snow is expensive and the work takes up too much valuable time.The collection of loose material, such as vegetables, small rocks,stones or rubble and removal of same to a suitable deposit, is also atime consuming, and therefor expensive operation.

The principal object of the present invention is to construct a power orhorse drawn machine for the removal or packing of the snow in a quickand eflicient manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction which maybe utilized for removing or levelling off of soil or for the collectionand removing of various loose materials such as vegetables, smallboulders and refuse.

A further object of the invention is to construct the device for thecollection and removal of material and also provide means for quickrelease of said material from the device at the desired disposallocation.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for cutting asmooth surface through the snow, ice or soil and with adjustable meansfor varying the degree of cut.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for adding weightto the cutting blade of the machine to hold same to the work.

A still further object of the invention is to design the machine in asimple manner for ease of operation, cheaply for low cost of manufactureand at the same time provide a strong, sturdy and durable constructionwhich will stand up under hard usage and give satisfactory service formany years.

With the above important and'other minor objects in View which willbecome more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consistsessentially in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinaftermore particularly described reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention from the front.

Fgure 2 is a perspective view of the invention from the rear.

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 33,Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged horizontal view taken on the line 4-4, Figure 1.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the several figures.

The invention proper comprises a U-shaped framework having sides I and 2and a rear wall 3. The sides comprise three members one above the other,with the lower member projecting ahead a short distance. The lower frontcorners are curved and provided with metal runners 4 and the sides areheld together on the outside by three vertical metal, straps 5 boltedthereto. The front inner sides are reinforced by a strap 6, similar tostraps 5, and they are fastened by the same bolts which pass through thefront outer strap 5. The two upper members of the rear wall 3 are heldto the sides by vertical angle-irons I bolted to the rear of thesemembers and the other flanges of the angles are fastened to the side bythe bolts fastening the rear side straps. The lower member 3' of therear wall is pivoted to the upper members by hinges 8 positioned on thefront of the wall. The lower edge of this hinged member, carries a steelblade 9 by suitable bolts It]. The lower edge of the blade whichprojects slightly below the rear wall, is provided with an acute point Hfor cutting purposes while the upper edge is curved at [2 for a purposelater described. The rear and side walls are suitably and interiorlybraced with angular positioned bars l3.

A rod it passes across the front part of the machine with the endspassing through the sides and the front straps 5 and 6. Washers I5 arepositioned on the rod at either side of the side members and cotter pins[6 pass through holes in the rod at the side of the washer to preventend movement. The middle members of the sides are cut away at the frontand the outside'as shown at IT to receive the ends of a V-shaped bailbar I8. This bar has the ends thereof pivoted on the rod l4 and thecenter of the V is provided with a looped strap [9 for hitch purposes. Acentral bar 20 is pivoted on the rod [4 with the other end welded to thecenter of the bail bar directly behind the hitch. Braces 2| arepositioned at an angle and welded to the center bar 20 and to the bailbar.

The rear side of the rear member 3, (see Figure 2) is provided with apair of steps or footboards 22 supported from the rear wall by angularshaped brackets 23 which are bolted thereto. These footboards are forthe operator to stand on to give weight to the cutting blade and hold itto the work. If, desired, and especially if the machine is tractor drawnand used for soil removal these footboards could be made into boxes forholding stones or gravel and so provide a semi-permanent weight for thepurpose. A suitable space is left between these footboards for thelifting and operating mechanism now to be described.

A bracket 24 is carried from the rear member 3'. These brackets span andpivotally carry a curved member 25 which extends rearwardly of themachine. The rear end of this member is pivotally connected to a pair oflinks 26 one on either side and these links have the upper end spanningand are pivoted to a movable control lever '21 pivotally carried bybrackets 28 on the upper rear face of the rear wall 3. By manuallylowering the lever 27, the member 25. is pressed downward into theposition shown in the dotted outline. in Figure 3 while the lever 21. isreceived between the links. 26. and against the cross bar 2Q carriedthereby. When this operation is completed, the pivot points arepositioned on the other side of dead center and accordingly themechanism is held in. that position. The lower part of the member 25also carries a wide metal runner 30. which slideson the ground surfaceor the snow, and projects past the end of the member to protect thelever handle 2? from being released when in the position shown in thedotted outline. Obviously when this member and runnor are operated asabove. mentioned the rear end of the machine will be lifted up with thefront end being supported by the front runners so that a three, pointsupport is provided.

While I have shown and described a manual operated mechanism for thelifting of the rear part of the machine, it will be understood that ifthe machine is tractor drawn, it would be very easy to equip thismechanism with hydraulic power controlled from the tractor drivers seatand; so simplify the device for one man operation.

On the back of the rear wall 3 and slightly to the side of the liftingmechanism, a quadrant 3|v is provided and the circular edgeof thisquadrant is centered on the pivot line of the hinges B. A lever 32 isfastened to the lower member 3' and extends upwardly at a slightrearward angle. The handle of thelever is provided with a pivoted detent33 having a wire 34 extending downward to a locking device35 which holdsthe lever to the notches in the quadrant. By operating the detent andmoving the lever rearwardly the member 3 can be pivoted on the hingesand vary the cutting angle of the blade 9.

In operation, the loop Hi can be connected to a hitch for either horsesor tractor draft and the machine drawn over the ground or snow on therunners 4; while the runner 30 controls the.

out of the blade 9. If the blade 9 is held vertically as shown in Figure3 and snow is being removed, the snow will collect within the machinewhile a certain amount will pass under the blade and be packed thereby.By reversing the blade 9 and usin the curved edge 12, more snow willpass thereunder and a good hard surface can be packed which is ideallysuited for a farm yard which is used a great deal by a farmer inypassingfrom one building to another. When the machine is filled, it can bedrawn to a suitable disposal area and the lever 21 can then be operatedto lift the rear end. As the machine, continues to move, the collectedsnow will pass thereunder. If a sharp cut is desired while the acuteblade is in use the lever 32 can be operated to pivotally advance themember 3. This will accordingly project the blade ahead and the snowwill be sheared clean with no packing. If the machine is to be used forlevelling soil the same operations are used but the machine would bemade of sturdier construction than those made for snow. The frontframework, all being pivoted on the rod [4, allows for variations of thetractor with the machine as it passes over uneven surfaces. The rearcorner angles being at the rear of the member 3 act as a backin for theblade to reinforce same when pressure of material is exerted against thelower member 3'.

From the above construction and method of operation it will be apparent,that this machine can be used effectively to smooth the surface of soilroads, lanes or farmyards by removing small elevations and filling inhollows. It can also be used to pack surfaces, or material can beremoved and released where required. It can be used for removal of snowfrom roads and open spaces in the winter time. The snow can be packed toform a solid walking surface for man or animals. Bein simple, eihcientand inexpensively constructed, it can be made very cheaply and may alsobe used for collection and depositing various small loose material whichis so often found on the farm.

What I claim as my invention is:

A snow and soil remover, comprising: a U-shaped frame adapted to bedrawn over the ground to receive and collect material through the openside thereof; said U-shaped frame formed from a pair of runner sidemembers rigidly secured to a cross rear wall; a blade member hingedlysuspended from the bottom of said rear wall and projecting below saidframe for cutting contact with said ground; a lever secured to the rearof said blade member and operable over a quadrant; said quadrant carriedby the back of said rear wall and curved on the centre point of thehinge of said blade member, for regulating the cuttin angle of saidblade member; a curved runner having one end pivotally secured to therear central part of said blade member and trailing behind said frame; asecondary lever centrally pivoted to the back of said rear wall; a linkpivotally connecting said secondary lever with said curved runner; andsaid secondary lever swingable downwardly, by manual pressure, to rocksaid curved runner on said ground and elevatethe rear part of saidframefor passage of said contained material under said blade member.

PERCY E. HEDLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNIETED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 16,963 Blakeslee Apr. 7, 1857400,775 Kopmeier Apr. 12, 1889 404,952 Birch Junell, 1889 774,431Ireland Nov. 8, 1904 928,363 Cowan July 20, 1909 977,211 Miller Nov. 29,1910 1,037,956 Miller Sept. 10, 1912 1,317,037 Samdahl Sept. 23, 19191,329,543 Northon Feb. 3, 1920 1,333,816 Mossman Mar. 16, 1920 1,404,47Orgaard Jan. 24, 1922'

